DiscoDude: ---BEGIN SESSION---
DiscoDude: Session logging commenced
GM: The autopsy lab just hasn’t been the same since Andie left. Gone are the piles of modded equipment and general clutter. Now returned to its default state, the lab’s Equipment Is In Need of an Update. As a small consolation for the loss, the rooms have been Kept Impeccably Sterile by the new girl, Calliope.
Calliope Locke (M.E.) is a bit of a Neat-Freak, after all, despite often wearing girly make-up and accessories befitting the fact that she’s a Teen Medical Prodigy. She’d probably be a great asset to the team if only she weren’t More Interested In Vidya.
Case in point, she’s playing what sounds like some MokePon game on the latest handheld when you walk in. She clicks buttons on the device almost as fast as your eyes can track through sleeves way too long for her arms.
“Took you long enough.” The M.E. doesn’t even look up from the boss-battle she’s in. Her voice comes off as chronically tired and either ‘cute’ or ‘obnoxious’ depending on who you ask.
Harry: Harry doesn't react to her tone of voice one way or another, though the music from her handheld is...distracting. (Truth be told, he actually likes the music, and was inspired a while ago to actually buy himself his own handheld. "For my grandkid's birthday," he lied to the store clerk.) "Got the story from the tourists we brought in. Were you able to figure out anything from that...that mess?"
GM: She shrugs and jerks her head, tousling several peach-faded blonde hairs as she vaguely motions at the table.
"Species - Komachi, local - and general time of death - sometime between 30 and 35 days ago. If we can ID the guy, we can prolly just work off of when he was last seen alive. But, even what little I was able to figure out brought up... questions."
At least one of you recognizes that name; Komachi. Birds of prey, bipedal, built (on average) to the approximate size and consistency of a brick shithouse. Not from off-world; this is their homeworld. They're fairly insular; most still stick to their original tribes out in the wild.
Norwick: "So he's been dead for a bit over a month." Norwick says, shrugging a bit, "So, what are these questions you got." He said, taking a seat close by.
GM: "Well, the main one that came up should be apparent if you'll just look over there." She jerks her head at the table again.
Despite Calliope's best efforts, even the neatest of coroners couldn't make a Rotting Carcass like the one on the illuminated table look safe to touch without destroying evidence. Sure enough, it looks vaguely avian and about the right size, and also... hard to look at; you only vaguely see the impression of decaying feathers under the viscera.
On the table next to it, the victim's blood-stained outfit and effects are laid out. An outfit that... appears to be very modern, and if those inline accents are any suggestion, fairly well-off even by off-world standards.
"Assuming someone didn't dress up our corpse, the vic must have led a very interesting life." She hits pause. "Oh, and this body is gross, so I couldn't examine stuff as much as I wanted to. I had another pair of hands in here earlier, but she got called away for something. We'll still need to determine the cause of death, ID the victim, etcetera, so if you could...?"
Harry: Harry raises an eyebrow, then sighs and puts on a pair of latex gloves. "Native Komachi, huh? Fella doesn't look like the tribal life agreed with him. Y'know, the tourists were talking about how they were trying to hire a native guide...the tribe they talked to might have some idea who our John Doe here is regardless."
GM: "Maybe. Personally, I'd like some help finishing the autopsy before you go running off to ask."
(BTW, do you take note of anything here before we proceed to a challenge?)
Norwick: Norwick looks over at the two, "Did he have anything like a wallet or mobile device on him? Or was he picked clean of anything like that?" He asks, swiveling back and forth in his chair.
Harry: (deffo his modern outfit; it's probs not relevant to the long-term case but definitely going to be useful identifying him)
Harry: Harry raises his gloved hands. "Just tell me where to start."
Harry: (oh, also the time of death being about a month ago)
GM: (Alright, let's begin the Challenge. I was thinking of proposing the following tasks:)
GM: CHALLENGE: THE SHARP-DRESSED NATIVE'S AUTOPSY
1: ID the victim. (Overcome)
2: Determine the cause of death. (Overcome)
3: Are there any other clues? (Create Advantage)
GM: (Does that seem fine to you guys?)
Harry: (fine for me. how should we divide the work?)
GM: (Norwick, since you had the idea to search for wallet and phone, do you want to make the roll for IDing the guy? I assume Harry wants to get his hands dirty, so maybe he'll help with the cause. I'll let you guys decide which of you will try to find an additional clue.)
Harry: (we'll decide that last one after the first two i think)
GM: (Alright. Norwick - assuming you're fine with that arrangement - what approach do you want to roll?)
Norwick: ( Probably Careful. )
GM: (Alright. Roll vs. Fair (+2).)
Norwick: !f 2
DiscoDude: Norwick rolled 4dF+2 for 1 [4dF = [+][ ][-][-]]
GM: (Anything you want to add?)
Norwick: (( I honestly have nothing that fits here. ))
GM: (Alright; fail, or succeed at a cost?)
Harry: (come to think of it, how exactly are you carefully IDing the body?)
Harry: (i mean...I can carefully perfom an autopsy)
GM: (Patting down pockets, maybe?)
Harry: (yeah you ought to ask "how does he go about it," not "what does he roll" XD)
Norwick: (( Like, just trying to be gentle while searching for something, not really wanting to rip or tear anything as he's doing so. ))
Harry: (yeah that's good~)
GM: (Alright. I'll reiterate; fail, or succeed at a cost?)
Norwick: (( I'll take the L here. ))
Harry: (it makes sense if his killers were thorough)
Norwick: (( yea. ))
GM: You pat his clothes up and down, but... nothing. Despite the clothes being fancy, their pockets hold nothing.
GM: For now, he remains a John Doe.
GM: (Of course, the absence of evidence can still imply stuff, if you want to take note of it.)
Norwick: Norwick sighs as he finds nothing, "His killers must have taken anything that could have identified him."
GM: (Time for Harry's turn.)
Harry: Harry, meanwhile, sets to work on the corpse. It's in such a state there's barely any need to properly open it up, but...there are procedures to follow. The stench and decay barely faze him; he's seen far, far worse. Most of his cases could best be described as "punitive detail" of some degree.
Harry: (Carefully approaching this autopsy~)
Harry: !f 3 (Careful)
DiscoDude: Harry rolled 4dF+3 for 0 [4dF = [-][-][-][ ]]
GM: (Whoa. Anything you want to invoke?)
Harry: (can i spend a FATE Point on my High Concept? and is a 2 good enough, or should I reroll?)
GM: (Remember; it doesn't have to be an aspect attached to your character. +2 is good enough, however.)
Harry: (then awaaaaay we go)
GM: It's tough going, but you're finally able to take hold of a few demonstrable details as Calliope observes your work.
"Right, hold that bone fragment up. Now that one... Yeah, just about every fracture on this dude's back was premortem - that's 'before death.' I almost couldn't tell through the decay from where I was standing."
Harry: I know what 'premortem' means, Harry thinks but doesn't say.
GM: Ultimately, you're able to determine together that the cause of death was blunt-force trauma from behind, by means of something with a really big surface area.
"Possibly the ground, judging by where I'm told you found our guy? Then again, these guys can fly, so... I guess we can rule out an accident?"
Harry: "No sign of a bullet wound or laser burn, but then the flesh is in such bad shape we can't rule out he was shot out of the sky." The conditions of the crime are unusual, but the details are nothing he's not familiar with.
Harry: "It'd neatly explain how he got out there...and make tracking down his killer about a hundred times harder."
GM: "Mm, true that, but in any case, the fall - assuming that's what it is - was what got him in the end. Oh- DNA results just came back." Calliope swivels over to a beeping computer. "Let's see... male, young adult... from the region around where we're at - that part isn't a surprise, that's where most everybody's living. And that's those boxes ticked."
Harry: Harry peeks over. "Can you reconstruct a photo of him using his DNA profile and remains?"
GM: "Maybe? I'm not sure how advanced you think our gear is."
Harry: "Fair." Andie could've done it, he doesn't say. "Norwick, find anything on your end?"
Harry: (gonna give the last one to him; one more chance for a win XD)
Norwick: "Nnnnope, I couldn't find anything on his clothes. Like I said, his killers musta picked 'em clean."
GM: (Are you passing the ball back to Harry?)
Norwick: (( You mean the create advantage one? ))
GM: (Yeah.)
Norwick: (( I can roll Clever for it, try and find something like an inner pocket of sorts on the clothes. ))
Norwick: (( If that works ))
Norwick: (( Although that's at a +1 ))
Norwick: (( Or maybe Sneaky could work, since it relates to something being hidden? ))
GM: (I feel like that might be treading the same ground as your earlier attempt, but I guess that works.)
GM: (So I guess you start pulling at loose threads in the hopes of uncovering whatever secrets this guy might have taken to his grave?)
Norwick: (( yea, basically. Would Sneaky work or just Clever? ))
GM: (... Yeah, SNEAKY works. Roll vs. Fair (+2).)
Norwick: !f 2
DiscoDude: Norwick rolled 4dF+2 for 3 [4dF = [+][ ][ ][ ]]
Norwick: (( yaay ))
GM: (Now, since this is Create Advantage, you can (if you want) choose to have me target a particular suspect with this. It can be anyone who’s been named. If you want me to decide in secret, that’s fine, too.)
Harry: (are you sure you should be asking us to pick who the evidence incriminates)
GM: (Alternatively, you can generally describe what it is you found, and I’ll decide who that should point to.)
GM: (Don’t worry about derailing any planned answers with your decision, Norwick.)
GM: ((Because there are none... I mean, there are, but I haven’t decided which, if any, are true at this stage.))
Norwick: (( Well I was thinking about maybe finding a business card of sorts. ))
GM: (A business card he doesn’t want people finding? Interesting... Yeah, I think I have something that fits that.)
Norwick: (( alrighty, I'll type what Norwick found. ))
GM: (Not his business card, mind.)
GM: ((You failed the ID roll, remember.))
Norwick: Norwick finds a hidden pocket in the suit jacket and pulls out a single business card, "Well well, I think I found something." He says, placing the card down near Harry and Calliope. "I found this, although, if he wasn't carrying a stack of these, then it's probably not his."
Harry: "A business card. Ain't that cute."
GM: Its front reads “Yugo-404 | Business & legal consultations, contracts, loans, real-estate,” and finishes with addresses, hours, and numbers for offices in both Paradisio and Lowtide.
Harry: "Seems like we owe a lawyer a visit."
GM: On the other side is a watermark stating a date and time, along with: “The word of the day is ‘Caramel.’”
Norwick, you vaguely recall some of your friends on “the wrong side” bring this guy up. You didn’t catch what exactly his deal was, but it probably wasn’t entirely on the level.
Norwick: "Looks like it, we might be able to get his name too if he saw them." He said and then folds his arms, "Although the name of this guy rings a bell..." He said, although not continuing his sentence.
GM: (New evidence: Concealed Business Card [!])
Harry: "I'm sure he does," Harry says, not quite managing to conceal the venom in his voice.
Norwick: Norwick shoots Harry and glare, staring at him for a few seconds before crossing his arms.
GM: “Well, I won’t keep you any longer,” says Calliope. She’s quick to return to her game.
Now that you’ve taken care of the autopsy and the witnesses, there are several directions you can go:
You could go out to the crime scene - there’s almost certainly something the on-site guys missed.
If this happened on Amoccelli property - or perhaps in Amoccelli airspace - then it stands to reason that you should talk to the Amoccellis at some point.
You can seek out the local Komachi tribe. Odds are good that your victim came from there.
You could seek out this Yugo-404 guy. If the victim had an appointment he didn’t want anyone to see, it’s probably important.
Or, perhaps, there’s something else you want to check out first?
Norwick: Norwick stands up from his chair, "I'm going to meet this lawyer, how about we split up and find things separately?" He says, turning to exit the lab.
GM: (Hmm, would Harry allow that, I wonder?)
Harry: Harry frowns, but...if anything untoward happens, at least he can claim ignorance. This time. "You handle the shady lawyer. I'll take a look at the crime scene."
Norwick: Norwick gives a thumbs up, without facing Harry, before leaving out the door.
GM: “Sounds like uh... a plan, team?” Calliope raises a waggling finger. “Can one of you put the body away, please? It’s becoming an eyesore. Like, blah.”
GM: (Last lines for the scene?)
Norwick: "Harry was the one to touch it, he's still got the gloves on, let him do it." He said as he yelled back from down the hall.
GM: (Harry?)
GM: (Also, do we want to continue tonight? I dunno if I can do concurrent scenes without running past time.)
Harry: shrugs. "Only happy to help," he says, sounding tired.
Norwick: (( yea, let's make this the ending scene. ))
GM: (Alrighty, then.)
Harry: (yeah, i'm cool with that)
GM: (Let us...)
GM: !end
